Flowers, pod, and leaves. Photo: Don Wood, Scotia Sanctuary, NSW

Flowers, pods, and leaves. Photo: Don Wood, Scotia Sanctuary, NSW

Flowers and leaves. Australian Plant Image Index, photo: Murray Fagg, near Innaminka, SA

Plant. Photo: Don Wood, Scotia Sanctuary, NSW

Common Name

Red-flowered Lotus; Red Bird's Foot Trefoil; Red-flowered Trefoil

Family

Fabaceae

Notes

Perennial forb or climber, prostrate or 5-50cm tall.  Leaves alternating along the stems, composed of five leaflets, each 0.5-1.5cm long, 2-7mm wide, flat, rough, hairy or hairless, with smooth edges.  Flowers pink, white, red, or purple.  Flowers pea-shaped, with five petals, two almost joined together.  Plants on Scotia Sanctuary, NSW, have pale pink flowers. Flower groups in 1-3-flowered umbels, the stalks arising from the bases of the leaves.

Differs from Lotus australis in that the umbels are 1-3 flowered and the flowers are 6-9mm long.

Description and photo in G.M. Cunningham, WE Mulham, PL Milthorpe and J H Leigh (1981 and later printings) Plants of Western New South Wales page 400

PlantNET description: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Lotus~cruentus